Wednesday Feb 05, 2025
Wednesday Feb 05, 2025
Wednesday, 5 February 2025 00:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Finance and Planning Deputy Minister Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma
By Charumini de Silva
The Government recently announced that a major policy goal in the coming six months is the full integration of nine critical State agencies into the country’s national trade system, a process that has been stalled since 2016.
Finance and Planning Deputy Minister Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma highlighted the pressing inefficiencies currently faced by the importers and exporters due to complex bureaucratic hurdles spread across 34 different institutions involved in trade facilitation.
The lack of coordination among these entities delays approvals, increases transaction costs, and creates unnecessary obstacles for businesses engaged in international trade.
“A quick win would be getting nine key agencies fully connected within the next six months,” he said, speaking at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit last week organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Suriyapperuma said the long-term goal is to establish a seamless digital trade facilitation system, where businesses will be able to complete all regulatory interactions online, without having to visit multiple Government offices.
Although a fully unified digital system remains the ultimate goal, he said the immediate priority is to ensure that businesses can at least submit key trade documents online across nine different agencies initially during the first half of this year.
He said this initial step will be a stepping stone in the digitalisation of State institutions and the successful integration of these nine Government agencies is expected to serve as a broader effort to streamline trade facilitation.
“It will significantly reduce processing delays, boost efficiency and improve transparency in trade-related regulatory procedures,” Dr. Suriyapperuma added.
